Ex=pupil Success

Congratulations to former pupil Kirsty Hill who has been elected as President of the Queen Margaret Union at the University of Glasgow. Kirsty will shortly complete her Psychology course at the university. Staff and pupils wish her every success in her Presidency and with her future career.

Y Dance Success

On Tuesday 22nd March, 8 dancers from Doon Academy celebrated passing their Y Dance course. The girls were involved in an 8 week programme which highlighted the negative aspects of alcohol, drugs and other teenage contemporary issues. Alongside the serious side of the course, the girls also received dance lessons from professional dancer, Caroline Burnside. The girls performed their dance at the Kilmarnock Palace Theatre in February and also on Tuesday with an audience of parents, grandparents, pupils, senior management and staff. The girls gave a presentation using a PowerPoint to highlight their aims and then performed their dance. Pupils received their certificates and everyone enjoyed the tea, coffee, juice and biscuits served after the performance. Well done to Rachel Boyce, Rachel Murphy, Lorelle White, Nicky Fairbairn, Carrie Thomson, Halle Fitzsimmons, Shayla Chalmers and Ashley Mitchell on passing the course. All the girls would like to give Caroline a special thank you for all the help, enthusiasm and energy she brought to the course.

Pupil Councils

Senior pupils and Mr. Kelly, Principal Teacher of Guidance, have been working on the relaunch of our pupil councils. This week’s meetings raised a number of interesting issues and some excellent suggestions to improve pupils’ facilities have begun to be addressed.

Revision Sessions

During the April holidays, revision sessions will be held in school Monday 4th to Friday 8th and Monday 11th April to Friday 15th April, 10am to 12 noon and 1pm to 3pm S4/5/6 pupils will be issued a timetable detailing which members of staff/subjects are available for revision. If parents require any further information please contact the school 01292 550521.

The Supported Learning Centre pupils have been busy taking part in many activities. S1 and S2 pupils headed off to the Scottish Executive and Dynamic Earth recently and had a ball of a time. The group really enjoyed their time at Dynamic Earth, travelling round in a time capsule, going under sea, travelling though time and they especially enjoyed their trip from the North Pole to the African savannah. We were guests of the Scottish government and got to see where all the debating takes place but we were not allowed to sit on the seats!! We would like to thank the staff at Southcraigs School for letting us borrow their bus. All pupils have been taking part in football coaching in recent weeks with the expert coaching coming from the Active Schools staff. Some of the pupils have been using this learning experience as evidence towards their ASDAN Awards. Things are bright and shiny around the SLC these days, thanks to Maureen and Davina from the Oral Health Promotions Team and the Dental Hygienists, Louise and Eileen. We have all been brushing our teeth at lunch break to help keep our teeth clean and shiny. We have been popping in during lunchtime to improve our fitness levels by using the new Wii. We have taken an example of good practice from the P.E. department after the success of their Wii programme. Big thanks to Nicola McCormick, Active School co-coordinator for helping us access the money to purchase the Wii. A group of budding Commonwealth Games athletes will be competing in a Boccia competition at the Magnum leisure Centre soon. GO! SLC team.

Climate Week Challenge

Doon Academy selected 2 teams of 4 pupils from S1, S2, and S3 to take part in the first national Climate Challenge for schools. The challenge takes place during Climate Week which is designed to spotlight what workplaces and communities are already doing to combat climate change, and to raise awareness of the issues involved. The pupils were asked to develop a green idea to save money or make money. Within the time limit the teams had to come up with an idea, show how it would achieve their objective and also how they would carry it out. Their final product was to be on no more than 2 sides of A4 paper. The challenge proved to be quite a tough task, but after a great deal of discussion and debate within the teams, they were ready to present their ideas to the school judges Mrs Ritchie and Mrs Bax. Well done to the winning team which consisted of Kieran Madden, Robyn McCluskey, Elleis Peters and Gareth Kerr from S1. Their idea was for a school garden with vegetables and flowers.

Kilmarnock College Leadership Academy

Congratulations to the 24 S3 pupils who graduated from the Kilmarnock College Leadership Academy. During their week’s leadership course the pupils undertook various challenges in team building and communication skills.

Netball success

On Thursday 17th March, Doon Academy’s S3 netball team celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a game against Belmont Academy. The game began with a point scored at each end. Jade Scott was on fire as she moved about court feeding the ball to Sophie Dobbie and also scoring herself. With the usual defenders of Claire Boyd and Lauren Shaw back in position no more nets were scored by Belmont and we went into half time up 2-1. With Annabel McTaggart doing a fine job controlling play in centre court, Paige McMahon and Amy Fulton proved to be strong wings. The ball got back to Doon’s centre circle and allowed Jade and Sophie to score another 2 nets. The final score ended with Doon winning 4-1. This low score line was unusual for our girls but with another win under their belts, they are delighted. Well done to Jade Scott who was deservedly named Player of the Match.

Readers' Cup Quiz

The S1 round of Doon Academy's Readers' Cup Quiz was held in the Assembly Hall, and the categories for the questions were Heroes and Heroines, Jacqueline Wilson, Lucky Dip, Comics and Animal Stories. After a very hard fought contest between all four teams, Finlas and Raecar edged ahead and the contest ended at the bell in a tie with both teams having a respectable 30.5 points. The final result was decided with a tiebreaker between Finlas and Raecar. Both teams got 6/10 in the tiebreaker and so it went to sudden death and Finlas just managed to answer the last two questions more quickly so they won. Congratulations to the winning Finlas team of Alana Murray, Morgan Davis, Shannon Clelland and Keiran Madden. They all received W H Smith vouchers. Well done to the other teams’ especially Raecar who were pipped to the post. A big thank you to the judges, Heather Dunn, Lisa McTaggart, Rosie Coles and Hayley Bone.

Readers' Cup Quiz

S2 Readers' Cup Quiz was held in the Library and the question topics were Lucky Dip, Eoin Colfer, Witches and Wizards, Historical Fiction and Books and Films. Unfortunately the questions proved to be rather difficult for S2 and the teams did not score as well as S1. Again the contest was between Finlas and Raecar with Finlas leading all the way through, until Raecar managed to overtake them in the final round with a very good score of 8 points. Congratulations to the winning team of pupils, Tommy Campbell, Stephanie Carrick, Rachel Murphy and Halle Fitzsimmons, and commiserations to the runners-up John Anderson, Nicky Fairbairn, Lorelle White and Sandy Napier. Our thanks to the S4 judges for the event, Heather Dunn, Megan McCleary, Nathan Gilmore and Paige Collins.

Heartstart

Mr. Gooding’s S3 Biology class have undertaken Heartstart training as part of their studies. The pupils were assessed on the recovery position, CPR, recognising the signs of a heart attack, bleeding and choking. They all passed the course and received their certificates. Well done.

Cathy Forde visit

Famous author Cathy Forde came to the school to speak to S1 pupils about her work. The visit was organised by East Ayrshire school Librarians and funded by Live Literature Scotland. Cathy talked about how she writes about things she knows and about some of the scary and spooky things that have happened to her. She then uses these incidents in her stories.

Gleam team picked

Congratulations to Lisa McTaggart, Stephanie Carrick, Kirsty McCormick, Robyn McCluskey, Dennis Coles, Gavin McFadzean, Ritchie Lindores and Kyle Stewart who have been selected to star as the leads’ in the musical GLEAM. 11 S2 girls were also chosen to be the backing dancers. The Oral Health Team was most impressed by the talent and enthusiasm of everyone who auditioned for the parts and would like to say a big thank you to all.

World Maths Day Success

171 S1-S3 pupils took part in the worldwide mathematics competition. Collectively they correctly answered an amazing 29,753 questions. The top scorers for each year group were: S1 - Katie Burrell with 1721 points, S2 - John Anderson with 1756 points S3 - Daryl Grover with 257 points. Special mention to S1 pupil Elleis Peters who answered 3390 questions. Well done to all who took part and we look forward to playing again next year.

Leadership relaunch

The school is planning to relaunch its leadership programme in the next few weeks. Three groups of S3 pupils will attend the Kilmarnock College leadership project and the school hopes to offer its own residential leadership experience in the near future. The Ocean Youth Trust voyage will take place during the 2nd to the 8th May.

S4/5/6 parents evening

The S4/5/6 parents evening will be held on Wednesday 23rd March 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

Y Dance graduation

Parents and guardians of the Y Dance graduates will be visiting the school to celebrate the dancers’ success with their project.

Comenius trip to Belgium

As part of our Comenius ‘Health4Life’ project, Mr. Lynn, Ms Fuller and S3 pupils Fraser Buchanan, Connor Halliday, Tammy Reid and Jade Scott will be attending a project meeting to be held in Belgium from the 21st to 25th March. The team will be joining with teachers and pupils from our partner schools in Belgium, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Spain with the main activity being a Health Debate. We wish them every success at the meeting and an enjoyable visit.

SLC Parents visit

The Supported Learning Centre pupils held a coffee afternoon for their parents who viewed the film of the Burns Supper, which was produced and edited by the pupils. The parents all expressed how much they had enjoyed the afternoon and the film. All SLC pupils received a personal copy of the DVD.

Pavlovas demonstration

Thank you to John Fowler, Head Chef, of the Horizon Hotel in Ayr who visited the school to work with S5/6 Hospitality students on exam preparation. John demonstrated how to make Pavlovas and the pupils then made their own.

Skills Development Show

Congratulations to S6 pupils Connie Hose and Kyle Stewart who have been selected to undertake a placement working on the radio with Eddy Gemmell of the Skills Development Scotland Careers Show – a radio programme dedicated to careers. They will have the opportunity to research content for the show; record interviews and even present live on-air. Their first gig is on Friday 25th March at the Careers Radio Show broadcast live from Kilmarnock College.

Head Teacher

Head Teacher Patrick O’Rourke has broken his femur. Pupils and staff wish him a speedy recovery.

Burns Competition Success

Congratulations to S2 pupil Kirsty McCormick who gained 1st place in instrumental and 2nd place in recitation at the Ayrshire Association of Burns Clubs Schools Competition held at Irvine Royal Academy. Well done to Robbie Uriarte, Lauren Kennedy and Paul Jamieson who all performed superbly and gained certificates.

Self-defence classes

Mr Kerr is taking self defence classes for S5/6 girls on ‘How to get out of an attack’. The classes will be held every Monday.

Drwan In Art Exhibition

The travelling art gallery was back in school with this year’s theme of ‘Drawn In’. A variety of year groups enjoyed visiting the exhibition.

Netball success

On Monday 7th March, Doon Academy’s S3 netball team visited Ardrossan Academy for the next game in their league. After a long bus journey, our girls were eager to get going. The game started with a fast Ardrossan point but Doon was not put off, as they quickly got another 3 points back. Annabel McTaggart controlled centre court with ease with Tammy Reid and Paige McMahon helping in the wings. By half time, the score was 10-1 to Doon and spirits were high. Going into the second half, Ardrossan managed to pull back some points after their half time change over but it wasn’t enough. Sophie Dobbie and Jade Scott worked the circle like experts and managed to get another 5 nets. At the opposite side of the court in defence, Claire Boyd and Amy Fulton, worked well together in keeping the Ardrossan shooters from scoring many more. The final score ended with Doon Academy winning 15-6. Well done to Sophie Dobbie who received Player of the Match for her accurate and consistent shooting.

World Book Night

Three staff from Doon Academy, Mrs Murray, Mrs Dorans and Mrs Bax, were lucky enough to be selected as donors for the inaugural World Book Night on 5th March 2011. They each received 48 copies of their chosen titles which were Agent Zigzag, Case Histories and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. We held a very successful book giveaway to staff at break on Friday 4th March, followed by a giveaway to pupils during mentoring on Friday afternoon. The idea of the event is to promote reading and hopefully the people who have been given the books will read them, discuss them, and then pass them on to their family or friends.

Student teachers finished

Doon Academy staff and pupils bid a fond farewell to our student teachers, Barry Piccinni in Maths and Lyndsay Black in Music. We wish them every success in the future.

Supported Study

The school are pleased by the uptake from pupils for the after-school supported study which takes places on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. With only a few teaching weeks left until the SQA examinations in May, it seems that many of our pupils are making good use of the remaining study time.

No smoking Day Competition winner

Congratulations to S1 pupil Nathan Nelson who gained 2nd place in the ‘No Smoking Day Competition’ held by Doon Valley Pharmacy in Dalmellington.

New S1 strips

Congratulations to the S1 football team who have been kindly sponsored with new strips by Active Schools. Thank you to Nicola McCormick at Active Schools for her hard work and effort in getting the strips. Members of the team are Colin McDonald, David Hay, Connor Blain, Reece Higgins (Capt), Aaron Gilmore, Stewart Stirling, Ben McMurdo, Liam Graham, Sam McCrorie, David Gracie, Kieran Madden, Colin McTaggart, Josh Taylor. We all wish them every success in their future football matches.

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

The S1/2 Burns Recitation prize winners had a wonderful visit to the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. They were met by Education Learning Officers Esther and Lucy and then had a tour of the Burns cottage and a workshop on Tam O’Shanter. Burns volunteer Alison Wilson then accompanied the pupils on a walk, taking in the Auld Alloway Kirk and the Brig O’Doon. They then met again with Esther and Lucy who led a further workshop on Burns life and works and a tour of the interactive museum. The pupils really enjoyed the visit and as S2 pupil Naomi Allan said’ It was great. I really liked the hands on things at the museum’. S1 pupil Colin McDonald said’ If we take part next year in the competition can we have another visit’. Thank you to all the staff at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum for making the day one to remember.

S2 Parents Evening

Thank you to parents of S2 pupils who attended the very successful Parents Evening held on Wednesday 23rd February. The parents were able to discuss with teachers subject choices for their child in preparation for the S3 option sheet.

Respect & Protect Competition winners

Congratulations to S3 pupil Tammy Reid who won the school competition to produce a PowerPoint or video to promote the new Respect and Protect anti-bullying policy. The runner-ups were Aaron Gilmore S1, Stephen Crossan S4 and Samantha Halbert S1. Well done to all the entrants.

Cricket

In school cricket news, congratulations to Alexander McDowall who won the junior cricket single wicket competition by defeating Josh Taylor 17-14 in the final. Well done to Josh for reaching the final. They will both be presented with their trophies at the prize giving ceremony prior to the cricket dinner on March 25th in the Masonic Club, Dalmellington.

S4 - S6 Parents' night

S4/5/6 Parents Evening will be held on Wednesday 23rd March 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Parents are invited to attend to discuss with teachers their child’s prelim results and their option choices.

Barrington Stoke editors

Miss Borthwick’s S3 English class are currently editing the Barrington Stoke manuscript ‘O’ by Sam Enthoven. Their job is to review the manuscript and give their opinions. They will receive a copy of the book and be credited as reviewers once it is published.

R.S.A. Highly commended

Congratulations to S1 pupil Morgan Davis whose work was selected as Highly Commended in the Friends of the R.S.A. Competition.

Fine Art Students

As part of the FOCUS West project the Art department are delighted to welcome two second year Fine Art students who will be working in the department for the next few weeks. They will be offering assistance to senior pupils and carrying out a project with Mrs. Humes S3 class.

Royal Bank Visit

Thank you to Lyndsay Walker from Royal Bank of Scotland in Paisley who visited the school and held personal finance sessions with S2 and S5 pupils. These sessions were greatly appreciated by pupils.

Oral Health

The Oral Health team were once again in school to deliver talks to S1 pupils regarding oral hygiene.